The Case Against High-School Sports

[TalkingDog]

CYA disclaimer: Although this article is about sports, which seemingly goes against forum rules, it is more about the damage to education. For that reason, I think it should be allowed in GD.

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/10/the-case-against-high-school-sports/309447/

Every year, thousands of teenagers move to the United States from all over the world, for all kinds of reasons. They observe everything in their new country with fresh eyes, including basic features of American life that most of us never stop to consider.

One element of our education system consistently surprises them: “Sports are a big deal here,” says Jenny, who moved to America from South Korea with her family in 2011. Shawnee High, her public school in southern New Jersey, fields teams in 18 sports over the course of the school year, including golf and bowling. Its campus has lush grass fields, six tennis courts, and an athletic Hall of Fame. “They have days when teams dress up in Hawaiian clothes or pajamas just because—‘We’re the soccer team!,’ ” Jenny says. (To protect the privacy of Jenny and other students in this story, only their first names are used.)

By contrast, in South Korea, whose 15-year-olds rank fourth in the world (behind Shanghai, Singapore, and Hong Kong) on a test of critical thinking in math, Jenny’s classmates played pickup soccer on a dirt field at lunchtime. They brought badminton rackets from home and pretended there was a net. If they made it into the newspaper, it was usually for their academic accomplishments.

Sports are embedded in American schools in a way they are not almost anywhere else. Yet this difference hardly ever comes up in domestic debates about America’s international mediocrity in education. (The U.S. ranks 31st on the same international math test.) The challenges we do talk about are real ones, from undertrained teachers to entrenched poverty. But what to make of this other glaring reality, and the signal it sends to children, parents, and teachers about the very purpose of school?

[murielm99]

1. I have said this for years,

and I am a teacher (just subbing now).

One of my former colleagues taught in Germany for a year. Her husband is a school principal, and he agrees with the way Germany does things. There are city and community sports leagues. They are sponsored. They are popular, because there will always be testosterone-laden activities. It works well for them. Schools concentrate on academics, which is as it should be.

[SheilaT]

2. I have long thought that

there's an overemphasis on sports at all levels in this country.

High school is where a lot of damage is done. Sports will get funded while the academic side is neglected. Students are allowed to participate even when failing. I've heard the excuse that if the kid weren't allowed to remain on the team he'd drop out. No, if he really cares about playing he needs to at least pass all his classes. Same for the girls, of course.

[ZombieHorde]

3. I completely agree.

No sports in schools, including universities.

[gopiscrap]

4. I agree

[Igel]

5. I know too many kids who'd drop out if not for sports.

It's what they live for. They started this years before they hit high school and jr varsity teams.

A number only graduate because their coaches kick their behinds if their grades drop. Or kick the teachers' behinds to get them to go the extra mile to help their kids. As soon as the seniors play their last games, their grades plummet and only averaging their last few months' with their first few months' grades gets them over that magic threshold into a "D".

I've known teachers who failed an athlete. The kid hangs in there until the appeal's over and the teacher's decision sticks, then the kid's just sitting there and biding time until he turns 18. Then he drops out.

[liberal_at_heart]

6. They are over emphasized and too much money is allocated for it, but some kids need

school sports. My son is autistic. He struggles academically. PE and sports is a great way for him to work off stress and give his brain a break. Being on the wrestling team was a great way for him to participate in a team activity. They encouraged him and congratulated him when he did well. It gave him confidence and a sense of accomplishment. He is taking weight lifting and running PE right now. He has always wanted to lift weights. He enjoys it, and even though he has sensory issues with running he has figured out a way to deal with it. He just paces himself and finishes when he can whether that is within the time restraint or not. I agree that too much emphasis is put on sports. I also think too much emphasis is put on how well our kids do on state standardized tests. Our politicians are trying too hard and fast to get us out of that 31st international math placement. We need to focus more on the children and not on how well they do in sports or on state standardized tests.

[dionysus]

7. i have no problems with sports unless it comes at the expense of education.. like TX high schools

building mutli million dollar stadiums and shit.

[Nye Bevan]

8. One of the weirdest things about the US is how colleges are farm teams for the NFL and NBA.

Colleges provide special, dumbed-down classes for the kids who excel at athletics but are not talented academically. So these kids can pretend to get college degrees in exchange for playing unpaid on feeder teams for pro sports. And the college sports teams coaches frequently get paid more than the president of the college.

Does this happen anywhere other than in the US?

[TalkingDog]

9. The New Plantation: Black Athletes, College Sports, and Predominantly White NCAA Institutions

http://www.amazon.com/The-New-Plantation-Predominantly-Institutions/dp/113703534X

TL;DR: No. It does not.

[hughee99]

10. If I understand correctly, many foreign schools don't spend as much time on art or music either

should we get rid of those too?

[thucythucy]

14. Which foreign schools do you mean?

The German public schools my family went to all had excellent art and music programs.

Specifically, which countries that don't obsess on sports like we do also don't offer art and/or music?

[hughee99]

15. I was actually thinking about Japan and Korea.

And I didn't say they didn't offer it, just that they didn't spend much time on it.

[enough]

11. High school sports changed both of my daughters' lives.

No they were not sports stars, and they got academic, not athletic, scholarships. But playing tennis and volleyball at public school introduced them the life-long habit of the joy of intense focused physical activity and the confidence to go for it and challenge themselves.

And the funny thing, once they got the inspiration themselves, they handed it on to me (with a lot of convincing and cajoling). I got dragged into it kicking and screaming, and now it has changed by life too. I do different things from them, mostly different kinds of dancing and weight training. But the inspiration they got from their teachers in high school is still a major force in all of our lives.

[FarCenter]

12. Sports in high school are OK, except for varsity sports

Competitions between schools should be eliminated.

[elias7]

13. Sports were instrumental in my opening up socially

We didn't have "lush" green fields, we had grass. We didn't have "hawaiian clothes day or pajama day" but many often wore their letter jackert on the day of games. We didn't have an "athletic hall of fame" but there was a wall of fame for those who made all-state.

The comradery, the competition, the physical activity, the friendships...I wouldn't trade that for anything.

Oh, I also got into Yale because of my strong academics which included AP courses and incredibly hard work. Not because of any athletic scholarship.

I think moderation is reasonable, but to compare an upscale sport-oriented school in NJ to a diert poor institution in South Korea is the worst kind of anecdotal evidence, just as my story is, an anecdote that favors sports involvement.

What is the very purpose of school? This article suggests it is academics. I might disagree.

On the first day of 1st grade, my child came home from school and said,"You don't have to be friends with everyone, but you have to be friendly". A school that focuses on the well roundedness of a child is the one I'd choose.

I could easily tell you anecdotes of asian students who burn out because of the "all work and no play" approach in education in these cultures.

Who's to say?

[bhikkhu]

16. Sports have been a big part of my life since I was a teenager

...and without resorting to anecdote (though there is no shortage of anecdotes to support sports and PE in schools), statistically kids who are involved in sports do better academically and socially ( http://www.ijbnpa.org/content/5/1/10/ , for one study). Physical activity is a big part of growing up, and taking it out of the schools would be another way of gutting our education system and reducing expectations for kids.

[DirkGently]

17. Sports may be overemphasized. Physical education is important.

I don't agree with the line of reasoning that because X country's students excel at mathematics, we should emulate whatever they're doing. Well-rounded education includes music, art, and phys. ed and / or sports.

I do agree heedlessly pouring resources into athletic programs to the detriment of core academics is a bad idea, but I think America's strength in terms of innovation has always come from well-rounded education.

The mind is a multifaceted thing. We know already that art programs, and especially music, contribute to intellect. I think athletic and physical training do as well, and it would be a mistake to pull kids out of sports in pursuit of South Korean math scores.

Balance, in all things, but especially in education. People aren't all one thing. Intelligence isn't all one thing. Intellectual development is not comprised solely of math and science scores.

[Arugula Latte]

18. "Free" PE gets cut and "Club" or traveling team sports are taking over.

I know parents who pay thousands a year for their kid to be on an elite team.

It's bloody ridiculous, in my opinion.